


Do You Hear Me Calling You

by yasmamamercury (Em_1)



Series: DL Stocking Stuffers 2019 [9]
Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: 1970s, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, M/M, Music, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22059514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em_1/pseuds/yasmamamercury
Summary: “Sometimes when there’s a song in your head, it means your soulmate has that song stuck in their head as well.”Or, Freddie drives Jim 'round the bend when recording Bohemian Rhapsody.
Relationships: Jim Hutton/Freddie Mercury
Series: DL Stocking Stuffers 2019 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587598
Comments: 6
Kudos: 64
Collections: DL Stockings 2019





	Do You Hear Me Calling You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lover_of_blue_roses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lover_of_blue_roses/gifts).



Jim learned about soulmates when he was rather young, he couldn’t quite pinpoint the exact age, but he remembered asking his mum about the songs in his head that weren’t in English. She hadn’t made a fuss about it, 

“Sometimes when there’s a song in your head, it means your soulmate has that song stuck in their head as well.” 

Jim had shrugged it off, not entirely convinced that his mother wasn’t pulling his leg. It wasn’t like he minded, anyway, the songs were varied enough to keep his young mind entertained. Things went on like that as Jim grew up, eventually, the songs shifted into English, though Jim could never recognize them. It was clear that they listened to different types of music. Sometimes he’d wake up in the middle of the night to a nice piano melody that would help him drift back to sleep. 

Jim had managed to make it to London and young adulthood before uttering a complaint about the music that got stuck in his head. At which point, he really wasn’t sure if what he was hearing counted as music, per se. It was more like fragmented pieces of songs; sometimes it was just a melody that would play on a loop in his head, sometimes it was the same verse with the words slightly changed - different variations of what had to be the same song. It often left Jim wondering what kind of person his soulmate was. 

The worst part was, he was never able to find the full versions of the songs. No matter how much attention he paid to the radio, how many record stores he walked into with the scraps of the lyrics scribbled on a piece of paper in hopes that someone would recognize them, it was as if the songs didn’t exist outside of his mind - and his soulmate’s. 

Over the years, Jim got used to it and he embraced the rare moments where his mind was quiet, the rare moments where he was humming along to a song from his childhood by his own choice. He wasn’t necessarily a homebody, but there was something about the familiarity of Irish music that soothed him when he got homesick. He knew it wasn’t everyone’s choice of music - certainly not if his soulmate was  _ English  _ \- but he had suffered through enough disjointed music in his head that he couldn’t bring himself to care all that much.

* * *

“Ugh,” Freddie groaned, sprawled out on the sofa, one arm dangling off the side. 

“What?” Roger asked from the kitchen of their shared flat. Freddie could hear the amusement in his voice. 

“Another bloody fucking Irish sea shanty,” The annoyance in his tone was palpable. “I thought soulmates were supposed to have similar taste in music,” 

Roger chuckled, Freddie had been complaining about the sea shanties ever since they’d met - and long before that, he was sure. 

“I don’t think that’s explicitly part of the contract, no,” 

Freddie groaned again, if only for dramatic effect. 

“You know, it was nice, at first. Something different, something cheery. But that’s all it ever is,” Freddie despaired, “There’s no variety,  _ ever _ . I don’t get how that’s the only thing that gets stuck in their head. I mean, it’s been  _ years _ , Rog,” 

Roger laughed again and wandered by to peer at Freddie over the back of the sofa,

“Come on, let’s go to practice. It’ll get some other songs stuck in your head.”

* * *

It wasn’t often that Jim found himself in Surrey, but he needed a weekend to get away. Though, he knew that physically getting away from London wouldn’t stop the music, if one could actually get around to calling it that, in his head. Things had really intensified since the end of the summer, and truth be told it was starting to drive him round the bend. At first, Jim thought it might be two or three different songs that his soulmate was cycling through, but the more time that passed made Jim realize that it was actually  _ one  _ song. There were bits that Jim recognized from earlier years,

_ Anyway the wind blows; _

_ Nothing really matters to me; _

_ So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye; _

But lately, there had been new parts thrown in, and dare Jim say, obsessed over. They didn’t make any sense to him, though his soulmate was clearly losing sleep over it. Causing Jim to lose sleep as well. Up until then, the music had never been especially loud, but it felt as though this one song was being blasted in his head. He’d lie awake at night as bits of nonsense filled his ears,

_ I see a little silhouetto of a man; _

_ Scaramouche, scaramouche will you do the fandango; _

_ Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening; _

_ Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Figaro; _

_ Magnifico; _

And on and on it went. 

He’d found a quiet pub in the countryside to settle in for the evening. Though it was surprisingly busy, for an establishment in the middle of nowhere. Jim sat himself at the end of the bar, where he could survey the rest of the pub and watch as people flitted in and out. He was on his second pint when a raspy voice from a booth across from him caught his attention,

“I can only put so many Galileo’s in the song, Fred!” 

The voice belonged to a blond man, and even from his vantage point, Jim could see the piercing blue eyes full of fire as the man spoke to the other three sitting around him. Was this man really his soulmate? Jim had tried to never build up a picture of what they might be like when he finally met them, but he had to admit, that wasn’t quite what he had been expecting. It wasn’t long before the man in question walked up to the bar to order another round. Jim steeled himself and left his seat to head over to the blond’s side. 

“Pardon me,” Blue eyes peered up at Jim expectedly, a smile toying on the man’s lips. “I think you might be my soulmate,” 

The man blinked a few times, as if he was processing the words and a certain nervousness crept into Jim’s system. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he explained,

“I, uh, overheard you saying something about Galileo? There’s a song that’s been playing in my head for ages now that has a, uh,” Jim struggled to find a way to put it politely, “Hefty amount of Galileos in it,” 

A giggle burst out of the man in front of him and Jim’s eyebrows creased in confusion. 

“Sorry mate,” The man said, not trying very hard at all to contain his amusement, “That’s not me. But I think I know who it is. Will you give me just a second, yeah? I’ll be right back,” 

Before Jim could answer the blond dashed back to his table of friends and Jim was half convinced that he wouldn’t be coming back. Nonetheless, he watched as the blond leaned down to murmur to one of his friends with a grin before pointing over to him. The brunette turned his head and Jim  _ felt  _ when his eyes landed on him. He tried to keep himself from shifting uncomfortably under the intense gaze. After what felt like an eternity, the blond and the brunette made their way back to Jim while the other two left at the table looked on curiously. 

“This is Freddie,” The blond said, a hand on Freddie’s back to push him forward. “I think he’s the one you’re looking for,” 

When their eyes met, Jim felt as if the air had been punched out of him. Freddie was even more gorgeous up close than he was from across the pub. The brown in his eyes was so dark that it almost blended right into the pupils, which were blown wide as the men took time to take each other in. 

“So, you’re the one with the sea shanties, huh?” Freddie asked, a playful tone to his warm voice. 

Jim chuckled, “A fair exchange for all the sleepless nights you’ve already caused me,”

“Play your cards right and you may have another sleepless night ahead of you,” Freddie said with a wink as he bumped their shoulders together. “You’ve already met Roger, but do you want to come meet the rest of the band?” 

Ah, band, that made sense now. Jim wasn’t sure why he never clued in that his soulmate might be a musician. He quickly cast a glance back at the table, where Roger had quietly snuck back, before nodding,

“Lead the way,” 

As Freddie turned, he laced their fingers together and Jim couldn’t help but give his hand a small squeeze - they fit together perfectly. There was no doubt in Jim’s mind that this was who he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first soulmate AU and I really enjoyed it! The idea came to me when I was looking through a list of soulmate prompts and came across one along the lines of: whenever a song gets stuck in your head, your soulmate hears it as well. I just couldn't shake the image of Jim suffering through hearing the music in Freddie's head over and over again. The things we do for love...
> 
> I had a lot of fun with this one, and I think I may one day develop it into a more substantial fic.


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